On Sun, 9 Sep 2018 14:47:54 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 14:23:51 on Sun, 9 Sep 2018,
Graeme Wall remarked:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mind-the-huge-gap-on-tube-funding-ckh70nckj?shareToken=c58f187e5f0fdfe85b428ad54eb18 d12

Politicians never work out that a voter pleasing freeze of whatever
at one election always ends up as an unpopular hike in rates later.

Like everyone who bids (or rather always over-bids) for the ECML
franchise, they hope that some magic growth in passenger numbers, and/or
the general economy, will bail them out. Rarely happens.

It's worse than that in London: journeys have actually fallen, just as
they have for some of the commuter lines into London.

That may be partly due to temporary factors (Southern strikes and
station closures for rebuilding, reducing the number of commuters
getting into London), but more worryingly for TfL, some may reflect
long term trends for less bus and tube travel. For example, has Uber
reduced the use of public transport? Are more people cycling? Are
fewer people commuting at all?